I got a good night’s sleep last night.  I woke up and took a shower.  It was a little hard to locate the towels.  There was something that looked like a large medicine cabinet, and I looked inside when I saw no towels to use to dry off.  I knew our hosts had been very hospitable, and it would not have been consistent with their behavor to not supply towels. The towels were inside this cabinet, because they don’t use shower curtins.  I learned from our first night’s stay.  Space is a very precious resource, since 70% of SK is uninhabitable mountains, so they maximize every bit of space.  I later learned that Jim didn’t get a shower because he did not want to question our hosts about the lack of towels.  Jim, you should have just asked me. 

          I laughed and told Jim, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K” (and sometimes involves willingness to make mistakes and ask forgiveness).

          Mrs. Kim prepared a very delicious breakfast for us.  We had toast, eggs, Korean coffee (always instant), tomatoes, lettuce, and jam.  We just made folded over sandwiches of the whole combination.  Hardees should try it!  It was good.  For “desert” we had fresh fruit.  Big grapes we would have called muscidines, apple, mellon, and peaches.  The Korean peach was very good but they had no fuzz.  How do they describe a young man when he tries to grow his first facial hair?  I had learned that our Georgia peaches originally came from the Orient as I was preparing for this trip.  I can say that we have experienced true southern hospitality here in South Korea.

          We met Mr. Kim’s 14 year old daughter.  She was going to school at 8:30 AM.  After 1st school, she went to a 2nd school, and would not return home until 11:00PM.  Education is very important to the Koreans.  It is very competitive to get into the universities here.  About 750,000 students vie for 250,000 spots each year.  I’ll tell my daughter not to complain so much about her AP work next year:)

          We then left with Mr. Kim, our translator Mr. Park, and our security guard.  Mr. Kim is the #2 assination target for NK because he is a very high profile defector who does radio broadcasts into NK.  So, he has a security detail assigned to him.  Along our drive I learned Mr. Park, our translator,  is a student of international law, specializing in law relating to defectors. He is sending me his thesis.

          We arived at the Voice of Freedom radio station and Mr. Kim showed us around.  I got a picture of a NK military uniform in one office.  We heard moving testimonies from several NK defectors.  One lady’s husband is currently being held by the Chinese police for smuggling NK defectors across the border.  They are asking a $23,000 bribe for his release.  Another young lady was a 3rd generation Christian from NK.  She did not know where the rest of their family was because their house church had been raided and all but her were taken into custody.  And we’re afraid to share the Gospel because people might reject our message…how sad.  These are real, bold believers!

          We had a great dinner with our translators.  It was duck, BBQ duck and it was good.  But I don’t think Bubba’s BBQ Duck would go over that well at home – you know, the whole chop stick thing.  I’m getting better with them.  We returned to the Co-op Residence and shared what each group had learned during the day.  We were all moved by what we had experienced.  We are beginning to understand, and I think catch a vision for what God wants to do with each of us.  “Brothers, consider your calling…” (1 Cor. 1:26).

Here is a short poem inspired by our stay:

In this world there is much sorrow,

I’ll deal with it – and start tomorrow.

But in Seoul, I find, tomorrow begins today,

God would have me serve without delay.

Advertisement